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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Early Sudanese Spring

By Dr. Hamad Al-Majid

Just like Tunisia's uprising that expelled Ben Ali, Egypt's uprising that ousted Mubarak, and Libya's uprising that drove out Gaddafi, Sudan was the undisputed pioneer of the Arab Spring with its peaceful and early uprising that ousted its dictator president Jaafar Nimeiri, who had oppressed the hearts of the Sudanese for years. But we Arabs have a short memory, as the Sudanese Spring in the 1980s nurtured a flower with a scent that spread to all Arab nations; Field Marshal Abdul Rahman Swar al Dahab [name translates literally as 'bracelet of gold'], who responded favourably to the Sudanese popular uprising and overthrew President Nimeiri in 1985. He took over power and headed the interim ruling system, which had the same name as the Libyan transitional council, and promised to hand power to the elected government, which the overwhelming majority of Arabs and non-Arabs alike did not believe at the time. However, they were wrong to mistrust him as he was not intoxicated with authority, and handed power over voluntarily to the elected Prime Minister Sadiq al Mahdi. Al-Dahab left the government at the height of his power and never once went back on his word. That was the early Sudanese Spring; however it was followed by a tame democratic autumn and a cold military winter. The cards of the Sudanese renaissance that were built by Swar al Dahab had collapsed. Sudan's spring could have been led by al-Dahab, and perhaps if he had come at the time of the Arab Spring of Revolutions, the situation would have been different.

What prompted me to write about the historical Arab leader Swar al Dahab was the wave of recent Arab uprisings, which is a more accurate description than the term “revolutions”. A lot of readers wrote to me and contacted me in reproach (and they were non-Sudanese), asking how could I forget this "golden" man and not mention him in alongside [Nelson] Mandela and Mahathir [Mohamad], as in a previous article I had alluded to the two great non-Arab figures of our developing world. I wrote that we are proud of these two global figures who voluntarily stepped down from power. Their people felt a great deal of love for them without there being any need to mobilize the masses, orchestrate stories and songs of praise, raise banners, and write glorifying slogans in large headlines.

I completely agree with my readers' observations and honesty. I did not forget this “beautiful” man and his rich experience when I wrote my article, but rather I did not think that Swar al Dahab was comparable to Mandela in terms of his historical legacy, nor does he resemble Mahathir in his achievement in development. Where I failed to link him to them, and this was wrong, was when I complimented Mahathir and Mandela in the framework of voluntarily stepping down from power, and this is the merit that Swar al Dahab shares with them.

This noble leader has a beautiful story, and if you read it without any names you would think that it was about the righteous Caliph Omar Ibn Abdulaziz. When al-Dahab handed over the reins of power to the elected government, he wrote the Prime Minister a letter in which he said that King Fahd, may God grant him mercy, gave him and his accompanying delegation a piece of a Kiswah [cloth that covers the Kaaba] whilst he was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia. He requested that the new Prime Minister keep it, because al-Dahab realized that if he had lived in his mother's house [in a reference to the Hadith that suggests that people in power should not accept gifts that are given to them because of their position or authority], he would not have received this gift, so he presented an honest and transparent inventory upon stepping down. Caliph Omar Ibn Abdulaziz was famous for being righteous, and remained in power for no more than two years. Swar al Dahab held power for only one year, and he has been remembered for decades.

How beautiful Sudan is when it finds a bracelet of gold. How it wishes for another after it fell from its wrist.

-This commentary was published in Asharq al-Awsat on 30/08/2011
-Dr. Hamad Al-Majid is a journalist and former member of the official Saudi National Organization for Human Rights. Al-Majid is a graduate of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh and holds an M.A. from California and a Doctorate from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...